25 years of speedway, and just getting started

Hancock is a three-decade- long resident of Costa Mesa, but he's made his career on foreign soil as a speedway motorcycle rider.

Fifteen years removed from his first world title, and only two years removed from his second, Hancock, 42, is looking to once again taste the satisfaction of being labeled World Speedway Grand Prix champion.

"I'm still in the game, still on the mark and hungry for success," he said.

Speedway racing, similar to soccer, is a sport that attracts the masses on a global scale, but has not yet been embraced by American racing fans. Racers ride along an oval-shaped dirt racetrack. Bikes weigh up to 160 pounds and use only one gear, employing no brakes.

Hancock got his start in the sport as a child, when his father would take him to see races in Orange County.

"My dad was taking me to the OC fairgrounds since I was 6," Hancock said. "He was a fan of it himself and he was involved with a lot of guys in the area that raced."

Within two years, Hancock began racing across Southern California, and recalls his first race quite fondly.

"I remember it like yesterday," Hancock said. "It was great, very intense. I spent so much time around the sport as a kid that I couldn't wait for that big day. I was so nervous, yet so excited. It was one of the most memorable moments of me growing up."

At 15, Hancock won the junior national championship and at 17 began his career on the professional circuit.

But in order to race against top competition, Hancock had to go where the sport is most popular: Europe.

In May 1989, at 18, Hancock accepted an offer from a professional speedway team in England.

"I had a dreadful first year learning the ropes but from that point on, I made my career in Europe," Hancock said.

Over the next few years, Hancock began to branch out across Europe, racing in Sweden and Poland.

He went from four to five races per year in America to more than 100 per year in Europe.

"It's the top sport in Poland, maybe third in Sweden, where I'm based now, and No. 2 in Denmark," Hancock said. "So it's on par with soccer and ice hockey in some of these European countries."

At 27, Hancock captured his first World Grand Prix championship. But from 1998 to 2010, he was unable to capture his second world title, finishing in the top-five spot eight times.

In 2011, it took a psychological rebirth for Hancock's fortunes to finally be reversed.

"I rediscovered my youth and my love for the sport," Hancock said. "I wanted to win badly and I was 41, feeling like I was 18 still. In 2011, I won and won convincingly. And in 2012, I led the series until the last three events and ended up third, two points behind second."

Youth might not be the category in which Hancock is placed. He is the oldest world championship competitor on the circuit.

The 2013 season begins March 23 in New Zealand, where Hancock will begin his quest to grab his third world title before considering calling it a career.

"For the last 15 years, I've been saying five more years until I'm done," Hancock said. "But I know this: the day I wake up and feel like I can't win, I'll hang it up that day."